Minecraft

Hour of Code

Bow

Type

Weapon

Uses

Combat

Stackable?

No

Data Values

Hex: 105 Dec: 261

Overview

A Bow is an item that can be used to attack mobs , assuming the player has arrows in their inventory. To fire the bow, hold down right-click to charge the shot, then release to fire. A bow can be used 385 times before it breaks. The damage and range depend on how far back the arrow was drawn; for best results shoot at maximum charge. A fully charged bow will be known by two ways. First, the bow is fully charged when it stops the drawing animation and begins shaking, or the bow's arrow when shot will leave a particle trail, much like that of a critical hit when jumping and attacking with a sword.

The bow is best used to take on mobs at a distance or where sword attacks could endanger the player (such as engaging Creepers ).

Fight Mechanics

When fighting a Creeper or another mob, try to hit the block beneath it so you can keep a distance as aiming at the torso will slow you down and allow said mob to advance. Shooting from above ledges is the most effective way to kill mobs and/or a player, however when aiming stay close to the edge and sneak so you don't fall off the ledge. Bows are best used when fighting range attack mobs like Skeletons. The farther the bow is pulled, the farther the arrow will go.

Bow in PvP

Bows are an excellent initiator or full-length combat weapon if the opposing player is without one. The bow starts to lose its significance quickly when opponents adorn armor. To say that the bow is "over-powered" is clearly a matter of opinion. A shooter atop a tower would certain seem "over-powered" because the enemies can not reach him, however, on solid ground, sword wielders would easily run him down. To really keep the bow significant, enchanting the bow is nearly required of it in PvP , unless if is simply a defensive weapon in the defense of towers, walls, etc.

Enchantments

As of 1.2.5, enchantments have been added to bows, including Power , Flame , Infinity , Punch and Unbreaking .

Flame (I) adds fire to the bow, said more simply making an arrow light on fire when it is ejected from an arrow and makes the cooked version of meat from cows , pigs , and chicken if they are killed by the fire.

Infinity (I) makes you have unlimited arrows so long as you have at least one arrow in your inventory.

Punch (I-II) is equivalent to Knockback .

Power (I-V) increases damage per shot. Only up to Power IV can be obtained from enchanting depending on the level, 30 being the max. In Survival Mode , Power V can only be obtained by combining two Power IV enchantments from another bow or a book.

Unbreaking (I-III) increases the bow's durability. However, this enchantment is not the most useful for a bow.

Trivia

Skeletons will now rarely drop bows, and also even more rarely drop an already enchanted bow (Assuming the skeleton killed was holding an enchanted bow), but the bow will be damaged as of 1.4.5.

There was a bug in 1.5.1 where arrows would stop in mid-air.

Another bug was that when bows fired their last shot and broke another one would appear as if you only dropped it, making you have a duplicated bow with unlimited durability.

A bow at its maximum force can destroy a minecart or a boat with one arrow.

In the PS4 Version , a bow will only damage another player that has PvP privileges enabled, even if the attacking player has PvP privileges. This may be a bug. Example: P1 has PvP, P2 does not. P1 shoots at P2 but the arrows will simply bounce off or have no effect (the arrows may become glitched and appear in the air still). If P2 has PvP, then P2 will take damage from P1's arrows.

The bow now has an animation in 1.9 The Combat Update

Arrows shot from a bow by either a Skeleton, or a player will stick into whatever surface they strike (including players). They will remain there, Despawning after one minute.

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